Winter Minestrone Soup with Sausage
Loaded with pasta, vegetables, and Italian sausage, this Winter Minestrone with Sausage is the perfect recipe to make on a cold evening!
Creating This Minestrone Soup Recipe
Homemade Minestrone Soup has always been a soup favorite of mine. It is loaded with vegetables, yet feels hearty with the added pasta.
In the summer, I tend to lead towards adding vegetables like squash and red bell peppers, but this version of minestrone soup features vegetables seen more during winter since we’re quickly headed that way.
Swiss chard and baby bella mushrooms replace summertime vegetables. I’ve had swiss chard growing wild in my backyard since I planted it two years ago. I haven’t done a thing to it and it rarely even gets watered since I haven’t set foot out there in quite a while.
What Is Minestrone Soup?
Minestrone soup is an Italian soup that’s made with a mixture of vegetables and rice or pasta. It’s typically a very hearty soup, and there are many variations of minestrone.
Minestrone is a great clean out the fridge type of recipe, and I chose to make this minestrone soup recipe with meat since I had some on hand.
What’s in Minestrone Soup?
I made this minestrone soup with Italian sausage, but feel free to customize the soup as you see fit. Here’s what I used to make this particular batch of soup:
- Italian sausage
- Olive oil
- Red onion
- Garlic
- Carrots
- Mushrooms
- Celery
- Canned diced tomatoes
- Chicken broth (or veggie broth)
- Water
- Tomato pasta
- Fresh and dried herbs
- Red kidney beans and cannellini beans
- Swiss chard
- Pasta shells
For the complete ingredient list and detailed instructions, scroll to the bottom of this post for the FREE printable recipe card.
How to Make Minestrone Soup with Sausage
Although this hearty soup is packed with veggies and pasta, it’s easy to make minestrone with sausage.
- Prepare the pasta according to package instructions.
- In a large dutch oven, brown the sausage links over medium-low heat until browned on all sides and cooked through. Remove and set aside to cool slightly.
- When the sausage has cooled, slice into thin rounds.
- Add olive oil to the pot and heat till shimmering. Stir in the onion and saute until tender.
- Add the garlic and saute for another 2 minutes. Add the carrots, mushrooms, and celery.
- Stir in the tomatoes, broth, water, and tomato paste.
- Add the bay leaves, rosemary thyme, and oregano.
- Return the sausage to the pan.
- Bring the mixture to a simmer over medium-high heat, then turn down to low and let simmer until the vegetables are tender.
- Drain the beans and stir them into the soup, season to taste with salt and pepper and add the swiss chard.
- Let cook until the swiss chard has wilted, then stir in the prepared pasta and serve topped with freshly grated parmesan.
The above is simply a quick summary of this recipe. Check out the full recipe in the free printable recipe card at the bottom of this post for all the detailed instructions.
Can This Recipe Be Made Vegetarian?
While you might not typically see Italian sausage featured in a minestrone soup recipe, I wanted to add a little bit for an extra burst of flavor and heartiness.
If you desire a vegetarian minestrone soup recipe, just omit the sausage and be sure to use a vegetarian broth, such as Pacific Natural Foods Organic Vegetable Broth, rather than a chicken based broth.
How to Store and Freeze Minestrone Soup
Leftover winter minestrone will keep up to five days in the fridge and in the freezer for up to three months.
If you are not finishing the entire pot of soup in one sitting, spoon the pasta into individual bowls and the ladle soup on top. Reserve extra pasta in a separate container for later use. This will prevent the pasta from absorbing all of the liquid in the soup while the leftovers refrigerate.
Tips for Making Minestrone with Sausage
- You can use either sweet or mild Italian sausage in this recipe.
- Feel free to switch up the vegetables in this soup to suit whatever you have on hand.
- If you know you won’t be able to finish the soup in one sitting, don’t stir the pasta shells into it. Instead, add the shells to individual bowls and pour the soup over top.
More Winter Soup Recipes:
Vegetable Beef and Noodle Soup is a comforting soup recipe for cold winter evenings! This soup recipe is loaded with veggies, tender bites of beef, and egg noodles for a delicious winter soup!
Roasted butternut squash and garlic are pureed with onion, carrot, broth, and half and half for a silky smooth, creamy, savory Roasted Butternut Squash Soup. Top it with bacon and sage for perfection.
If you’re looking for a creamy, rich and flavorful soup, try this Italian Sausage Kale Soup. It’s a lightened up version of an Olive Garden Classic and crowd favorite, Zuppa Toscana.
This recipe for Cheesy Broccoli Soup with Kale & Carrot is incredibly simple to whip up for dinner on a busy weeknight and the perfect way to warm up on a cold winter evening.
This Italian Sausage Soup with Orzo is a great clean out the fridge recipe! It’s packed with veggies, Italian sausage, orzo, and more!
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Winter Minestrone with Swiss Chard and Sausage
Loaded with pasta, vegetables, and Italian sausage, this Winter Minestrone with Sausage is the perfect recipe to make on a cold evening!
Ingredients
- 3/4 lb. Italian Sausage (sweet or mild)
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 red onion, diced
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 3 carrots, sliced
- 8 ounces baby bella mushrooms, sliced
- 2 celery ribs, sliced
- 2 - 14.5 ounce cans diced tomatoes
- 6 cups Pacific Naturals Chicken or Vegetable Broth
- 2 - 3 cups water
- 1 can tomato paste
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 small stem fresh rosemary, needles removed and minced, about 1/4 - 1/2 teaspoon
- 1/2 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves
- 1/2 teaspoon fresh oregano, minced
- 1 cup dark red kidney beans
- 1 cup cannellini beans
- salt and pepper, to taste
- 1 large bunch swiss chard leaves, chopped (stems discarded)
- 2 cups uncooked medium shells or ditalini pasta
Instructions
- Prepare the pasta to al dente according to package instructions.
- In a large dutch oven, brown the sausage links over medium-low heat until browned on all sides and cooked through, cooking about 3-5 minutes per side.
- Remove and set aside to cool slightly. When the sausage has cooled, slice into thin rounds.
- Add olive oil to the pan and heat till shimmering. Stir in the onion and saute until tender, about 5-7 minutes.
- Add the garlic and saute for another 2 minutes.
- Add the carrots, mushrooms, and celery. Saute for about 7 minutes. Mushrooms should be tender and the whole mixture fragrant.
- Stir in the tomatoes, broth, water, and tomato paste. Add the bay leaves, rosemary thyme, and oregano. Return the sausage to the pan.
- Bring the mixture to a simmer over medium-high heat, then turn down to low and let simmer for 30 minutes, or until the vegetables are tender.
- Drain the beans and stir them into the soup, season to taste with salt and pepper and add the swiss chard.
- Let cook until the swiss chard has wilted, then stir in the prepared pasta and serve topped with freshly grated parmesan. (Discard bay leaves before serving.)
Notes
Note: If you are not finishing the entire pot of soup in one sitting, spoon pasta into individual bowls and ladle soup on top. Reserve extra pasta in a separate container for later use. This will prevent the pasta from absorbing all of the liquid in the soup while the leftovers refrigerate.
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Nutrition Information:
Yield: 8 Serving Size: 1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 575Total Fat: 28gSaturated Fat: 8gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 19gCholesterol: 119mgSodium: 707mgCarbohydrates: 40gFiber: 8gSugar: 9gProtein: 42g
GoodLifeEats.com offers recipe nutritional information as a courtesy and is an estimate only. This information comes from online calculators. Although GoodLifeEats.com makes every effort to provide accurate information, these figures are only estimates.
Tickled Red says
I love soup even when it’s still warm out…thanks for the great giveaway 😀
Donna B. says
I’ll be making this soup over the weekend!
Corn and Potato Chowder
2 lb. russet potatoes, cut into small dice
4 cans chicken stock, plus additional water (enough to cover the potatoes)
leftover ham bone (if you have one – I put mine in the freezer and save it for this soup!!)
1 lb. ham, cut into small chunks if you don’t have a ham bone with leftover meat on it
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1 medium red onion, finely chopped
1 medium red pepper, finely chopped (optional)
12 oz. package bacon (I generally use thick cut), diced
2 bay leaves
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1 tablespoon finely chopped parsley
2 cans of corn (whole kernel or creamed), or 1 16 oz package frozen corn
1/2 cup sour cream
1 cup half-and-half (could use milk but it won’t be as creamy)
Garnishes
sour cream
shredded cheese (I use a sharp cheddar)
finely chopped green onion (can use red onion but it will have a sharper bite to it)
Put the potatoes in a large dutch oven, add chicken stock, water, ham bone, bay leaves and cayenne and put them on simmer until the potatoes are just shy of being done. Remove the bay leaves and the ham bone. Allow the ham bone to cool, then remove and reserve any meat. DO NOT DISCARD THE LIQUID. That will be the base of your soup.
In a skillet, cook the bacon over medium heat (slowly, you want to render the fat and totally crisp up the bacon). Remove the bacon and drain on paper towel, discard all but 1 tablespoon of the bacon fat (and don’t lose the brown bits on the bottom of the pan!!). In the reserved bacon fat, saute the onions, red pepper and garlic until softened.
Add the sauteed veggies to the potatoes, then add the corn, ham, thyme, parsley, sour cream and half-and-half and stir. Heat on a very low simmer for about 15-20 minutes, stirring occasionally. Serve with the garnishes listed, plus the reserved cooked bacon.
Alex says
Here’s my personal chicken soup recipe, adapted from what my grandfather taught me 🙂
1 lb fresh pasta cut into spaghetti or fettucine
1 large pot water
4-5 chicken breasts
2 carrots, shredded
1 onion, chopped
4 medium potatoes, cut into cubes
oil
salt/pepper
Boil the water with chicken breasts for a few hours to create a sort of chicken bouillon. In the meantime, make the fresh pasta using flour, egg and water. When chicken has finished cooking, remove from bouillon and cut into pieces. Put some oil into a saucepan, then add onions and fry until golden. Then add carrots and chicken as well, fry until the mixture looks roasted and is fragrant. Add chicken mixture, potato chunks, and pasta as well as seasonings to pot and cook until pasta and potatoes are tender. Enjoy!
Kristen M. says
My go-to potato soup is as follows:
3-4 cups peeled and diced potatoes
1/3 cup finely chopped onion
3 1/4 cups water
2 tablespoons chicken (or vegetable) bouillon granules
salt and pepper, to taste
5 tablespoons butter
5 tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 cups milk
Combine the potatoes, celery, onion, ham and water in a stockpot. Bring to a boil, then cook over medium heat until potatoes are tender, about 10 to 15 minutes. Stir in the chicken bouillon, salt and pepper.
In a separate saucepan, melt butter over medium-low heat. Whisk in flour with a fork, and cook, stirring constantly until thick, about 1 minute. Slowly stir in milk as not to allow lumps to form until all of the milk has been added. Continue stirring over medium-low heat until thick, 4 to 5 minutes.
Stir the milk mixture into the stockpot, and cook soup until heated through. Serve immediately.
Lauren @ hey, who cut the cheese? says
This soup looks very comforting and delicious! Thanks for sharing it!
Carmen says
Rustic Baked Potato Soup
4 baking potatoes or 6 medium potatoes (~ 2 lbs)
1 clove garlic, minced
1 small onion, chopped
2 Tbsp olive oil
3/4 cup flour
4 cups chicken broth
1 cup whipping cream or heavy cream
1 cup milk (skim is fine)
1/2 tsp pepper
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp marjoram, optional
1 cup cheddar cheese, grated (1/4 cup reserved)
6 slices bacon, cooked and crumbled
Wash the potatoes and pierce the skins. Bake in a 400°F oven for approximately an hour, or until tender. This can be done ahead of time, or just before making the soup. Roughly chop the potatoes, skins included into bite-sized pieces.
In a large pot, gently cook the garlic and onions in olive oil until the onions start to become translucent.
Mix the flour with the cream until blended; set aside.
Add the chicken broth, milk, salt, pepper and marjoram to the onion/garlic mixture. Add in the flour mixture and bring to a boil until it starts to thicken. Reduce heat and add the chopped potatoes, the cheddar cheese, and bacon. Cook over low heat until hot.
Sprinkle a bit of cheddar cheese over each individual bowl after serving. You can also reserve some bacon to sprinkle on top.
jacquie says
i don’t have a specific recipe but make soups using a vegetable based stock, carrots, celery, lentils and whatever veggies i have all simmered together. warm, yummy and realively quickly (at least for a soup) put together to have on hand for dinner and lunch.
Jen @ My Kitchen Addiction says
This soup looks perfectly warm and hearty… It makes me want to curl up with a big bowl and a blanket. So cozy!
Shaina says
I love a good, hearty soup. Thanks for the giveaway!
Amber | Bluebonnets & Brownies says
That is one gorgeous soup. Thanks for the link up, Katie!
Liz says
This is my favorite post-Thanksgiving soup to make:
Turkey and Wild Rice Soup
1/2 cup butter
2 stalks celery, thinly sliced
2 carrots, diced
1 medium onion, chopped
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
1-1/2 quarts Turkey Stock (or canned chicken broth)
1 teaspoon kosher or sea salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 cups cooked chopped turkey
2 cups cooked wild rice
1 cup heavy cream
1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley
In a Dutch oven or stockpot, melt butter. Add celery, carrots, and onion; cook, stirring constantly, over medium heat 5 minutes or until vegetables are crisp-tender. Stir in flour and cook, stirring constantly, 5 minutes. Add turkey stock and bring mixture to a boil.
Add salt and pepper; reduce heat and simmer 10 minutes. Add turkey, rice, cream, and parsley; cook until soup is thoroughly heated—do not boil.
Jamie | My Baking Addiction says
I am all about hearty, comforting soups right now! This one will definitely be gracing our table in the very near future.